August 26, 2012 – Mischief Night
by mmooch
Summary: **Part of the 2012 LiveJournal's Twisted Shorts August Fic-A-Day** series, also known as the 'Wacky Holiday Series'. Magnum and Buffy have a little fun Not that kind, gutter-brains . WARNING: Not for Scooby fans.


**August 26, 2012 – Mischief Night**

Summary: **Part of the 2012 LiveJournal's Twisted Shorts August Fic-A-Day** series, also known as the 'Wacky Holiday Series'. Magnum and Buffy have a little fun (Not that kind, gutter-brains). WARNING: Not for Scooby fans.

Challenge: for the livejournal 2012 August Fic-a-Day Challenge.

Warning: see summary.

Timeline: post-AU season 3 for BtVS; vague for M,P.I., but change the dates so they line up.

A/N: No dogs were harmed in the writing of this short…except for their pride.

Disclaimer: BtVS/AtS characters belong to Joss Whedon/Mutant Enemy. Magnum, P.I. characters belong to Donald P. Bellisario, Glen A. Larson, Glen Larson Productions, Belisarius Productions and Universal Television. I claim no rights to any copyrighted material. Please do not copy or take this story without my permission.

* * *

**Robin's Nest**

**Oct 30****th****…**

It was the first time Buffy really felt light-hearted in over a year. She knew it would upset Higgins, but it was so fun to tweak the stodgy man – even more than teasing Giles had ever been. Plus, Magnum had helped distract her from her misery several times over the past few months since she and Giles arrived in Hawaii.

One would think you wouldn't _need_ cheering up if you were in Hawaii…especially as the honored guest of Robin Masters. In most cases that was probably true; however, in Buffy's case, both her lack of mobility and the past year meant she needed some serious smile therapy.

Things really fell apart when Faith arrived…

* * *

The others gushed over Faith when she first showed up and started to push Buffy aside. Only Giles and her mom realized how they were hurting her and changed their behavior. Giles called for a new Watcher for Faith and her mom stopped trying to get her to give up being a Slayer.

It really wasn't Faith's fault, though. At the beginning, she tried to be Buffy's friend. After a while, though, she started to dig being the favored Slayer and let Xander's stories of the past spring affect her judgment of Buffy. Soon the Scoobies were Faith's team, leaving Buffy and Giles to work alone.

On the plus side, it made them depend on each other more – to the point where Giles confessed what he was supposed to do to her when her 18th birthday approached. He explained that if he didn't administer the drugs, the Council would consider them both rogue and kill them. After all, they had another Slayer right there, so it wouldn't even slow things down as far as they were concerned.

So Buffy agreed to be drugged and pretend like she didn't know what was going on…until their project monster broke free and grabbed her mother. She called and begged Giles for help, and he raced to the house to help her. It would have cost him his job, except for Travers was demoted for allowing the test to spin out of control. With two dead Watchers and countless civilians endangered during his test, Travers would be lucky to get out of the research archives in the next decade.

There were the normal monsters of the week for the rest of the year, but Graduation Day turned out to be a big surprise. Right in the middle of his speech, the Mayor turned into a giant snake-like demon.

Faith, who was there to watch the Scoobies graduate, started fighting the vampires who were taking advantage of the eclipse to keep the students from escaping. To keep it from being a massacre, Giles pitched in to help her, as did the Scoobies. The death count would have been much higher if both Slayers hadn't been on the scene.

As for Buffy, she was trying to go after the Mayor. The stakes and daggers she had on her were next to useless against something his size. Then she remembered how she and Faith fought Kakistos and how it took Faith using a larger 'stake' to finish the job. She broke down one of the poles next to the stage, flipped it around so the broken tip was facing up, and rammed it up into his brain through his mouth.

The bad news was that he managed to strike her several times before that, and when his body fell, it fell on top of her, crushing her lower body.

According to the normal doctors, she would never walk again. According to the Council doctors…they weren't sure. Normally when a Slayer was this injured, they allowed her to die so a new Slayer could be Called. They just couldn't give her the time needed to recuperate. Lucky for Buffy, they had another Slayer to protect the world, so Giles called up an old friend to ask a favor.

Apparently Hawaii was a paradise for more than just its sunny weather; most demons tended to avoid it. That made it the perfect place for an injured Slayer to recover.

So she met Higgins, Magnum and Magnum's friends…and the dogs. Which leads her back to the prank she and Magnum just pulled for Mischief Night – the day before Halloween…

* * *

"Zeus! Apollo!" Higgins' voice called out.

Magnum looked over at Buffy, sitting in her wheelchair, soaking in the sun's rays. She met his eyes and they counted down from five together.

When they reached one, Higgins bellowed angrily, "Magnum!"

"So what color did you decide on?" Magnum asked with his trademark grin/smirk. Their prank had been to dye the dogs' fur, using animal safe coloring gel.

Buffy just grinned back at him. If she were a few years older, she might try to flirt with him, but then again, maybe not. He was something of a perpetual flirt himself and she wasn't really the casual relationship type. While she finally felt ready to move on from Angel's memory, she wanted it to be serious when she did. "I thought they could use some color, and what's brighter than neon pink and green? Should we head to town before Higgins finds you?" she offered.

Giles and Higgins watched Magnum carefully peel out of the driveway, telling them that Buffy was in the vehicle with him…as did the fact he wasn't in the Ferrari like usual. "You do know that she was part of this, don't you?" Giles asked the estate's Majordomo.

Higgins nodded, a rare smile gracing his lips. "Yes, but that doesn't mean I can't make Magnum fear my wrath, does it?"

Chuckling, Giles agreed, "Yes, it's good to keep him on his toes, Jonathan. I'm just glad Buffy's smiling again; I haven't seen enough of that since her 17th birthday."

"Then I shall do anything in my power to make sure she continues to do so – even allowing her to pull pranks on myself and the boys," Higgins offered respectfully, before adding with a mischievous grin, "…Mr. Masters."

* * *

A/N: Angel was staked while Faith was on patrol; she was the one who found him and since all she knew was that he was a vampire…poof! Dust bunny! I don't really care who Faith's new Watcher was; if you want to say it was Wesley, then feel free.

Yeah, I had Giles be Robin; figured why not? Might explain how he could afford to be jobless for a year, then buy the Magic Box.


End file.
